Will Cain Country - Colorado School Thinks The” Don't Tread On Me” Flag Is Racist

Episode Date: August 30, 2023

Story #1: Is the Gadsden flag about the revolution or race? Story #2: When you make everything about race, everything becomes racist. Story #3: Why an NFL kicker is more important than one may think: From the father of a kicker. Tell Will what you thought about this podcast by emailing [e-mail] Follow Will on Twitter: @WillCain Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

One, is it about the revolution, or is it about race? The Gadsden flag. Two, when you make everything about race, everything becomes racist. Three, the importance of the kicker on NFL. Cut Day, coming to you from the perspective of the dad of a kicker. It's the Wilcane podcast on Fox News Podcast. What's up? And welcome to Wednesday. As always, I hope you will download, rate, and review this podcast wherever you get your audio entertainment at Apple, Spotify, or at Fox News podcast. I've been struggling. August has been a fairly

stressful month, and my stress is nothing compared to those who are going through real tragedy. but I've been struggling over something and it is I don't know I don't know if it's small or if it's big you see in my backyard I have a very very big oak tree the base of this oak tree

is probably five foot around easily four the trunk you cannot wrap your arms around if you lay down a man is long than the trunk, but not by a ton. I'm going with five feet, and this red oak reaches, I would say, at least 50 feet into the sky. Beautiful, towering branches above my house. Double the height, easily, of my house.

Branches splaying off in every direction. Who knows how many branches? Too many to count. Covering my backyard in shade. over the past two to three months as it began to get hot in texas this oak tree that some have suggested might be a hundred years old has started to just quit it's just dropped branches a seemingly healthy tree has dropped two three six at least seven branches some of which some of the smaller ones have landed on the roof of my house some of the larger ones and i'm talking about big branches full of leaves and smaller branches dropped bang square down into my backyard

right where my boys play soccer not far from where someone would be sitting on a patio I haven't seen any big branches fall I haven't heard it it's often happened in the middle of the night my wife has been home and seen a pretty large branch fall but I've woken up in the morning and seen gigantic oak branches

displayed across my backyard. And it's hard to watch this tree quit. When I lived in New York, I had an orange tree. I guess, I wouldn't say I have a green thumb, but I guess I like cultivating. It used to kill me in the wintertime when my orange tree in New York, which I had to bring inside, would slowly shed leaves, like a man in his 30s, looking into his palms in the middle of a shower and realizing he's losing his hair. strand after strand coming off as he uses his shampoo.

I would look at those orange tree leaves on the floor every morning and just a little piece of me died as that orange tree died. And then before you know it, one whole branch has lost its leaves and one whole branch is dead. I haven't been the best caretaker of a backyard since moving to Texas. I have lost between you and me. I've lost three to four trees. Not gigantic trees.

I've lost three to four trees from water. I've lost two Japanese maples. and at least two, what are they, hollies. It's not cool. And my backyard is green. It's just clearly there's some gaps in my irrigation system. You know, in a month and a half's worth of 105 to 109 degree temperature, everything gets punished. And this oak tree was getting water.

I'm pretty sure. We were watering three times a week. seeps down through the grass and I know the grass robs water from deep tree branches but it's not like the leaves are drying up you know the tree seemingly doing good in its foliage and I've learned there's such a thing as sudden limb drop

but that's not the sad end to this story by the seventh gigantic limb my wife had said enough this is dangerous I can't have one of these landing on one of the boys while they're playing soccer in the backyard this tree has become dangerous and we probably brought

I don't know if it was half a dozen, but close to a half and dozen arborists to come over and look. And to a man, they said, you got to cut it down. It's going to drop one of these gigantic branches on your house. It's going to crush your roof. You got to bring it down. And I did not want to bring it down. Last Thursday, they began the process of cutting down this 100-year-old, 50-to-60-foot, five-foot-round red oak. And it's one of the saddest things I've ever watched happen.

a team of really competent incredible dudes climbing up into the tree way up there sawing off limbs and they worked from sun up to sundown man and they probably got half the tree so many limbs which all seemed healthy but they all said yeah it probably needed to come down there is a lifespan for these trees i mean they said they'd heard of red oaks going 150 plus years but at some point a tree becomes too tall too big for its own weight storms in the winter winter too cold and summers in Texas too hot, winds in the spring too strong, that at some point it just starts to cripple under its own longevity. But man, I feel like a tree murderer. I feel awful watching this tree come down. And you'll never, obviously I'll never replace it. I'll never

get that shade back in the same way. That's 100 years of investment. That's 100 years of life. I could buy an expensive tree. It doesn't matter. That thing would be one foot at the base. I don't know, man. I don't know if it's small or I don't know if it's big. But I know I feel really bad losing this big, big red oak. Story number one. What does it mean? Is it about the revolution or is it about race?

The Gadsden flag. I bring you a story out of Colorado Springs, Colorado, where 12-year-old, 7th grader, Jaden Rodriguez carried a backpack to school. It's an army fatigue, camouflage backpack. And on the back, he had one of those Velcrofts. badges, a patch, a fix to the backpack. And on that Velcro, on that badge, he displayed the Gadsden flag. You're familiar with the Gadsden flag. I've worn T-shirts, the feature. The snake coiled around the words in the ground that says, don't tread on me. It was a symbol of

the American Revolution, but not for that day for Jaden Rodriguez in Colorado Springs, where his mother called into a meeting videoed, recorded, a meeting with a teacher who said that he could no longer wear that. He had to be pulled out of class. And in very, very soft and comforting, fascist language the teacher told them

how they would have to comply. She explained, in the nicest and softest voice, that the Gadsden flag stands for a time of slavery, that it's divisive, that it's about race. Jaden's mother tried to explain to the teacher. That's not what it's about, wherein the teacher gave her the bureaucratic brick wall. That moment in a conversation, which I've had,

for example, with the officers from the office of the mayor of Maui, about why West Maui was a media-free zone. I could explain to all I was blue in the face to this administrator, but his response was always just going to be, hey, man, I'm just here to enforce the policy. I didn't make the policy. I'm just here to enforce the policy. And that's, of course, the bureaucratic brick wall that was presented to Jaden Rodriguez's mother by this teacher. I'm just here to enforce the policy put in place by the district.

It didn't matter that it was anti-historical, that it was ignorant, that it wasn't education, but it was re-education. Jaden wouldn't be able to wear the Gadsden flag to school. For his part, 12-year-old Jaden sat there not smirking, but smiling, an air of confidence on his face, an understanding of history, an understanding of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. A basic understanding of fairness, as he explained to other kids, were other badges. But he couldn't wear the Gadsden flag. Let's go back in history for just a moment and answer the question.

Is it about race or is it about the revolution? The Gadsden flag, and this is just simply a reading from its Wikipedia page, is a historical American flag. It's a yellow field depicting a timber rattlesnake, coiled and ready to strike beneath the rattlesnake of the words, don't tread on me. The flag is named for Christopher Gadsden, a South Carolina delegate to the Continental Congress and Brigadier General in the Continental Army

who designed the flag in 1775 during the American Revolution. He gave the flag to Commodore Essex Hopkins, and it was to unfurl on the main mast of the flagship USS Alfred on December 20th of 1775. But two days later, Congress made Hopkins commander-in-chief of the Continental Navy and he adopted the Gadsden banner

as his personal flag, flying it from the mast of the flagship while he was aboard. The Continental Marines also flew the flag during the early parts of the war. It's history, intricately tied to the American Revolution. But what does it mean?

The Rattlesnake, I read on, was a symbol of the unity of the 13 colonies at the start of the Revolutionary War, and it had a long history as a political symbol in America. Benjamin Franklin used it for his join or die woodcut in 1754. Gadsden intended his flag as a warning to Britain not to violate the liberties of its American subjects. clearly what it means is liberty is the defense of liberty what it means is revolution I read on the flag has been described as the most popular symbol of the American Revolution the design proclaims an assertive warning of

vigilance and willingness to act in defense against coercion this has led it to be associated with the ideas of individualism and liberty, the Gadsden flag. It's stunning that something that is so objectively true can be twisted through the modern American cultural revolution into our re-education camps of public schools, erasing American history for the new ideology of critical race theory or identity politics

of seeing the world through oppressor and oppressed when it was the oppressed who flew the Gadsden Flack in defense of liberty against an empire we are ruled by idiots we are run by the incompetent we are educated by the uneducated

we are guided by a feeling a sense a complacency to fit in to never be called out no matter how stupid no matter how incompetent to fold in with the flock, even if the flock is headed over the cliff. No, we must be educated. We must understand history.

We must be right. Here's an update on the Gadsden flag situation and Jaden Rodriguez. His social media reporter, who brought this to the attention of the national media, gave us this update. That man's name is Connor. Boyak. He goes under C. Boyak. He's president of Libertas on X. He writes, Jaden decided to go back to school today with his patch in place. He said he'll do a sit-in if necessary to protest. Two law firms have stepped forward to assist as necessary to fight the viewpoint discrimination. Lots of media interest. No known response yet from the school or district offices. Collegado governor has tweeted about it disagreeing with the school. By the way, is a governor from the Democrat Party. Jayden sent me a video telling me his favorite Tuttle Twins book It's the creature from Jekyll Island

And he is campaigning to be school president And wearing a tri-corner hat as part of the stick Super patriotic Good for 12-year-olds Standing for What is Right The Gadsden flag We'll be right back with more of the Will Kane podcast This is Jimmy Phala

Inviting you to join me for Fox Across America where we'll discuss every single one of the Democrats' dumb ideas. Just kidding. It's only a three-hour show. Listen live at noon Eastern or get the podcast at Fox Across America.com. I'm Janice Dean. Join me every Sunday as I focus on stories of hope and people who are truly rays of sunshine in their community and across the world.

Listen and follow now at Fox Newspodcast.com. Story number two. If you make everything about Ray, everything soon becomes racist. There was an undoubtedly racist shooting in Jacksonville, Florida, earlier this week. Ryan Christopher Palmitter, 21 years old, attempted to go to a historically black college, but instead eventually ended up at a dollar general store on a racially motivated rampage. He had a swastika emblazoned on his rifle, and he left behind racist writing, say, police.

He texted his father during the shooting to go into his room where he found a suicide note. All of this has been released to the public. Reports are that Palmitter was targeting black Americans. This is to be universally condemned, and it has been. Everyone can look at this where the facts obviously lead you towards an outcome and say, horrific mass shooting, horrific motivation.

We can acknowledge that racism is a problem and also step back and go, why is racism so much a part of our public consciousness that now everything is seen through the prism of race? How do we arrive at a place where basically everybody is racist? Not everybody is a mass shooter. Not everybody is on the verge of this insanity. But why have we arrived at a place we're forcing everyone into the corners of the color of their own skin? All the usual suspects have jumped all over this to once again, not just indict American society and culture, but individuals. Jamel Hill, formerly a VSP, and used this moment as Ron DeSantis left his campaign and went to condemn unequivocally what happened in Jacksonville, that the real villain here is Ron DeSantis, his rhetoric and his policies, which, she said, breed people like the shooter

in Jacksonville. These are vampires. These are vampires that suck on the blood of humanity. They eject themselves into these tragic. situations for, yes, the most often personal gain. Trust me, to beat their chest the loudest, to be the most virtuous, to rack up a few followers, a few more podcast listens, but to ultimately divide us once again in the same manner

that leads to these types of tragedies. We cannot spend a decade preaching racism. Oh, you must think like, affiliate with, repent for the sins of your color. Oh, you can never think beyond your skin color. Oh, you will always have guilt. Oh, you will always have culpability. Every step of the way in our society for the past 10 years, it's basically self-segregate, intellectually and physically. It's used in job applications.

It's used in merit or anti-merit-based decision-making. I would say that over the last 10 years, we have reverted to the most racist point in American history since, since, the 1950s, when we still had Jim Crow. You could viably argue the past 10 years from I would also suggest a prior period just before that was our least racist period in American history. We boomeranged over the past 10 years to a level only exceeded by Jim Crow segregation area thought from the 1950s. And we've done it under the banner of anti-racism. We've done it under the banner of progress. when, in fact, we've obviously seeded, which anyone rational could look back and say,

hey, if you keep telling everybody that stick to their tribe, sooner or later, they're going to stick to their tribe. It was obvious and logical where this would lead, and we're reaping the fruits of this type of racism. It's everywhere. You know, I talked to you earlier this week about the stories, the tragic stories coming out of Hawaii, right? an update on that is by the way Hawaiian Electric Company says that they turned the power off to Lahaina at 6 a.m. that morning after the first fire

Maui County Fire they say cleared the fire by 9 a.m. Hawaiian Electric is saying clearly you did not because it flared up again by 3 p.m. And we didn't have power running through our line. So there was no further lines down. They admit that the lines down at 6 a.m. started the fire. So we had no further lines down with power

running through them by 3 p.m. U-Fire Department, so the allegations of Heko, Hawaiian Electric, failed to put out the fire. It does lead to questions like, why were the roads blocked to protect people from down to power lines if there was no power running through the lines? At a minimum, we're looking at incompetence and a failure of communication. I bring that up because competence becomes more and more important. I've told you this. Like, you have to look for competence in life. and increasingly from our leadership.

Think about that as we run through debates and elections and watch the incapabilities of the current administration. Competence. Because in this modern age of race and racism, competence is exactly the type of thing that we sacrifice. There's a story right now about the FAA, Federal Aviation Administration, looking into the health records of some almost 5,000 pilots.

to fly our planes, right? And the reason why they say is these pilots are not being honest on their medical forms to the FAA while going to the VA, many of them are military veterans, and claiming physical ailments, mostly mental ailments, in order to get veterans benefits. And look, everyone knows. That's probably how the system is played. No, I don't have a problem. I can fly, but over here where I can get support or payment, I do have a problem. I mean, we can talk about whether that should or shouldn't happen with these pilots, but like in any system, I'm sure that it is. the question is, are these pilots truly incapable? Do they really have an inability?

Do they really have a medical compromise on flying our planes safely? We've been pretty safe, by the way, our heirs when it comes to civilian passenger crashes. But you've heard the stories about some of these older white male veteran military pilots being pushed out the door while they make equity hires at lower levels of competence. If you constantly prioritize something over competence, you are going to get incompetence. You prioritize race or equity over competence when it comes to airplane hiring. We're going to get more crashes. You prioritize patronage or even race when it comes to hirings in West Maui. You're going to get incompetence in the case of a crisis.

If you prioritize race in society, you're going to sacrifice competence and seed greater racism in society. We're headed down a very dangerous path. It's driven in part, in part, by these bloodsuckers I've talked about before, but by corporate HR departments, by nonprofits often, by corporate donations, some driven by an ideology swept up into the Marxist thoughts of critical race theory, others just simply trying to go along with the sheep, fit in, and not be called out, to not be like that. Jayden Rodriguez and get in trouble. Others just ignorant of the depths

of their contribution and trying to be good people that looks beyond race. Because we do want to. We want to get beyond racism. But we keep prioritizing race, forcing everyone to their tribes. We get racism. And I believe we create a culture where

we get more racist people doing worse things out there in society. I believe anti-racism leads to racism. And I think we can't be surprised if we continue on this path and we continue to have horrific, condemnable, 100% unequivocally awful things like what happened in Jacksonville. We're going to step aside here for a moment. Stay tuned. From the Fox News Podcasts Network. Hey there, it's me. Kennedy, make sure to check out my podcast. Kennedy saves the world.

It is five days a week. Every week. Download and listen at Fox News Podcast.com. or wherever you listen to your favorite podcast. Story number three. It's called football. Should we be prioritizing the kicker? Some of my producers alerted me on NFL Cutdown Day that there weren't that many big stories. One of the biggest stories was actually the Cleveland Brown's cutting kicker,

Kade York, who they drafted in the fourth round from LSU a year ago and trading for the Chargers kicker. They had two the Chargers, two good kickers. Trading for the Chargers kicker, Dustin Hopkins. And all the emphasis we put on quarterback is the most important guy in the field. It is true that usually the team's leading score

is the kicker between extra points and field goals. Now listen, I know the attitude of every fan out there. I know everybody. When you're looking at the kicker on the sideline, he's not even part of the team. But can I just give you a little different perspective, one that I've recently gained?

I'm now the father of the kicker. I told you last year, I'm the father of a punter, okay? Okay, punter. There's no glory in punting, but there's no real downside either. You shank one. There's enough instances of play after that that you can't directly put 100% of the causality of losing onto the punter. Even when a punter, well, somebody should have picked up that block, right?

Which that happened last year in eighth grade. Pretty much changed the outcome of the game. Pretty hard to watch. But now my son is the punter and the kicker, field goals, and kickoffs. And last week I went to my first JV football game watching and kind of just tell you, it's excruciating. Being a kicker's dad, there's a very little upside, and now there's a lot of downside. I mean, maybe every once in a while some heroic 40-yard kick, I don't even know what a good kick is in JV. 30? I think so. I don't know.

but you kick some game winner once maybe during a season the downside's way greater went to my first JV football game last week and here's how it went deep kickoffs for JV good about on the five little deeper than the five sometimes pretty good punts were fine continuing to punt puns were fine

extra points were great three for three on extra points no problem one field goal Tim 31 yards wide right all the parents were awesome everybody was awesome all the teammates were awesome and the truth is he missed it by just a little bit and he just treated it a little differently than his extra points and he's like i just got to his first ever field goal attempt he's like i just got to treat him just like i do my extra points extra points are easy i was like exactly exactly what do i know slept at a holiday and express last night i've never kicked i would be better served to tell someone how to be a wide receiver than to be a kicker i mean i have no idea You probably don't either, right? Like, think about it. You have some conception of quarterback play.

I mean, what is this? Like hitting a T-shot at first hole of the Masters with a massive gallery around you? I don't know. I don't know how to tell you to be calm. Yeah, totally, dude. Just treat it. Just like an extra point. I think he has some range.

I do think he's got the distance if they need a 40-yard or something like that. but we're kind of left, right, sometimes down the center. That's what we've got to dial in. But sitting in the stands, man, I don't have it yet, but I'll probably get one. A rabbit's foot. I got fingers crossed. I can barely look. It's tough.

It's tough, man, for the foot in football. You never want a kicker until you need a kicker. It's like an attorney, right? You always hate them until you need one. Need one at the end of the game? to be Adam Venetary to win the Super Bowl? Dang right, you love your kicker. It's just not very many Adam Venetary's.

There's a lot of Kate Yorks. All right, that's going to do it for me today. I will see you again next time, right here on the Will Kane podcast. Listen to ad-free with a Fox News podcast plus subscription on Apple Podcast, and Amazon Prime members, you can listen to this show,

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